Category: Soil Microbiology

It’s World Soil Day. December 5, the international day to celebrate soil, was first recommended by the International Union of Soil Sciences in 2002. This year, the theme is ‘Caring for soils: measure, monitor, manage.’ With over 95 per cent of our food coming from the soil and soil supplying 15 of the 18 naturally… Read More

There is a lot more going on beneath our feet than what meets the eye. Soil is home to billions upon billions of microbes that benefit plants. Beneficial bacteria and fungi are constantly interacting with plants and helping them to access nutrients, water, and other things that they might need within the growing cycle, explains… Read More

How does commercial nitrogen fertilizer impact soil organic matter? Does adding nitrogen burn up organic matter or does it actually enhance organic matter levels in farm soils? Earlier this year, Syngenta soil health assessment lead Jordan Wade and Washington State University agronomist Andrew McGuire teamed up to answer that question. After reviewing decades of academic… Read More

Farmers have become quite familiar with the 4Rs of nutrient management — when it comes to fertilizer application they need to consider the right source, rate, time and placement of nutrients. As more farmers use biologicals to help meet crop nutrient needs, Mosaic regional agronomist Braydn Lingbeck feels it’s important to take a 4R approach… Read More

Soil fertility is the powerhouse that drives crop yield — and this episode of The Agronomists is an absolute powerhouse of soil fertility knowledge in order to learn more about soil pH. When too high or too low, the pH of soil can create huge issues in nutrient availability, nitrogen fixing capability, and soil microbe… Read More

It seems that everywhere you go right now, farmers are talking about cover crops. Producers across the country are not only using a diverse plant mix to provide feed for livestock, but also as potential solutions to compaction, a lack of nutrient availability, and to address weed issues in their fields. In this Farming Forward… Read More

For years, even decades, one crop’s boost in productivity because of following a different crop was put down as the “rotation effect.” As we begin to unravel what the rotation effect actually is, it’s clear that rooting depth and type, root exudates, and microbial population shifts all play a role in contributing to the bigger… Read More

Biological products, such as inoculants for pulses and soybeans, have been around a very long time, but the ever-expanding world of biological products now means that growers have options for hundreds of products that are supposed to do everything from stimulating root growth, to helping plants recover from hail, to fixing nitrogen. To help evaluate… Read More

Biologicals hold great promise for improving crop production. From increasing root activity, soil microbes, and nutrient availability to building plant resiliency to abiotic stresses — this emerging crop input segment is bursting with product choices. But for farmers, selecting which product and application is right for their acres can be a daunting and confusing task…. Read More

Healthy soils can be a crops’s best friend when the weather turns extreme. If it’s too dry, a healthy soil with high water-holding capacity can capture, store, and deliver critical moisture to growing plants; if it’s too wet that same soil will play a key role in transporting excess water down through the soil profile… Read More